In order to achieve a political aim, our education authorities have structured the maths syllabus in such a manner as to exclude the requirement for memorising formulas. I think this is a VERY BAD mistake. In the process of memorising  anything, the student or learner has to fully engage with the subject. The different symbols have to be learned, the way they relate to one another is emphasised and a deeper understanding of the subject matter is achieved. This then translates into a better ability to apply the formula when required and allows for interpretive questions to be set. Granted this is going back to the past with regard  to the fashionable  arguments that all the information is readily available on the net or in textbooks, but as I have experienced, learners without a memorised formula are all-at-sea as soon as you alter one element of the  question. They reach blindly for their calculators, as this behaviour has been ingrained in them from the start of their school careers, and they actually have no idea what they are doing. Fortunately they only need 30% to pass and thus can achieve this by copying the formula from the formula sheet and blindly entering random numbers!! The horror!